WASHINGTON — Daylight-saving time could not have come on a better night for the Crew.

After putting together an undefeated preseason capped with a Disney Pro Soccer Classic title one week earlier, the Crew scored two first-half goals and went on to defeat D.C. United 3-0 yesterday in the first regular-season game under coach Gregg Berhalter.

But now, after carrying that preseason momentum into RFK Stadium, the Crew has to wait two weeks until it plays again on March 22 at Crew Stadium against the Philadelphia Union.

Jump forward only an hour? How about at least a week?

“It’s a little difficult, the way we’re playing, to sit out a week,” midfielder Hector Jimenez said. “But it gives us time to work on the things we have to improve on. These two weeks will fly by quick.”

The Crew dictated much of the tempo from the start, and it was one of Berhalter’s chief principles for how the team should play that led directly to the first goal of the season.

After right back Josh Williams pushed far up the field on yet another run, Jimenez had tucked back inside to nab a loose ball. He played a one-touch pass deep into the attacking end of the field, where Williams caught it in space and sent a low cross into the heart of the penalty area.

There, a streaking Jairo Arrieta chipped it into the net in the 18th minute. It was the only goal the team would need, but Federico Higuain doubled the advantage nine minutes later when defender Michael Parkhurst was pulled down by Perry Kitchen on a Crew corner kick, leading to Higuain’s successful penalty kick.

Higuain has eight career goals on penalty kicks, tied with Jeff Cunningham for third-most in Crew history.

Higuain made it the fifth multi-goal game in his career in the 90th minute when he tapped in a centering pass from substitute Justin Meram.

“Ideally, you want to fully control the game for 90 minutes,” Berhalter said. “I don’t think we did that, but when I look at going on the road and controlling the opponent, I think we did that. I’m happy with that, and we scored two fantastic goals (from the run of play). All of that stuff was very positive for the first game.”

Five of the Crew’s starters also made their team debuts, with four of them — Waylon Francis, Steve Clark, Giancarlo Gonzalez and Parkhurst — playing on the defensive end of the field. Clark, who was named the starting goalkeeper after beating out Matt Lampson during the preseason, made just one save in recording the shutout.

“I think I haven’t even digested (being the starter),” Clark said. “I’m pretty stoked about the win. It’s nice to play, (but) the shutout is a credit to a lot of the guys in front of me.”

Berhalter named Parkhurst the team captain for the season, with Gahanna native Wil Trapp serving as vice captain.

Both players helped keep United forward Eddie Johnson, who signed as a designated player late last week, largely in check. Johnson, who is Parkhurst’s teammate on the U.S. national team, finished with two shots but had several would-be attempts poked away by Parkhurst and Trapp.

“He’s a handful,” Parkhurst said. “Physically he’s probably the best striker in the league, so he’s faster and stronger than all of us. He had a couple half-chances, but if that’s all he has every game we play him, then we’ll take that.”